


Royal Flush

by Sorrel



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Jessamine Kaldwin Lives, Jessamine is the Protagonist, No I don't know why either, more like a storyboard?, not technically a story?, this is 15 k words of set design mission structure and branching narrative conditions, yes I even wrote the alternate DLC storyline, yes this thing has everything but the kitchen sink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23082724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorrel/pseuds/Sorrel
Summary: In a world in which all of Delilah's deepest desires were granted, Royal Ambassador Jessamine Kaldwin is abruptly called home from Serkonos in the wake of her sister's mysterious assassination.  Accompanied by her Lord Protector and wielding heretical magic given by a capricious god, Jess is going to need every ounce of cunning she can muster in order to cut her way to the heart of a conspiracy, avenge the death of her sister, and claim the throne that is hers by right.Or: Dishonored, but Jessamine is the protagonist and Corvo her faithful sidekick.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 43





	1. THE SETUP

**Author's Note:**

> This thing started out as "lol what if Delilah had actually gotten her wish and STILL got killed by Daud, would that be fucked up or what" and then it somehow grew into this monster of a fanwork while I wasn't entirely paying attention. Please note, in case you didn't see my tag ramble, that this is not so much a _story_ as a story _board_. It's still a fanwork, but instead of a full-blown fic it's structured as a sort of outlined proposal: characters, equipment, magical abilities, change-over-time set design, and a narrative outline including branching end states based on player choice and chaos level. Basically, this was my chance to roll around in dazzling pile of endless what-if's like a dog in a trash heap, and I hope it's even half as satisfying for some of y'all to read as it was for me to write.

You are Jessamine Kaldwin, younger daughter of Emperor Euhorn Kaldwin and current heir to the imperial throne. Never a great favorite at court, you were often overshadowed by your more outspoken and charismatic sister, and after she followed your father to the throne you expected her to marry and bear heirs of her own, but no little nieces or nephews ever came along to supplant you. You, on the other hand, had a daughter out of wedlock less than two years after your sister's coronation, and used the scandal as an excuse to withdraw from court entirely and live abroad as the Royal Ambassador. You are therefore in Serkonos, negotiating with Duke Abele to delay the deployment of a naval blockade, when you receive the news: Her Imperial Majesty, Delilah Kaldwin I, has been murdered. You are now the empress-elect, and must return to Dunwall to lead your people in this time of crisis.

Supposedly, the murder was committed by Luca Abele, Delilah's longtime lover and himself the Serkonan duke's son and heir, but you have reason to believe that not all is as it seems. When last she wrote to you, Delilah indicated that she'd been investigating the origins of the Rat Plague consuming Dunwall, and that she'd discovered something too big to be entrusted to paper. It seems likely that both she and Luca were victims of a plot to destabilize imperial power, possibly even to seize the throne. Which means that even if you were willing to let your sister's death pass unavenged, your family will never be safe as long as such a conspiracy remains unchecked, and so you bid a reluctant goodbye to your daughter and sail home to claim your throne.

You find Dunwall much changed from the city of your youth, ravaged by poverty and disease, trampled under the boots of the militant Abbey, and held together by a crumbling network of mercenaries, black marketeers, and corrupt City Watch officials. Even the highest echelons of wealth and privilege have been ground to a standstill by financial ruin and factional quarrels, leaving you virtually powerless, largely friendless, and trapped in a web of paranoia and power-mongering that has already claimed the life of one empress. Accompanied by your Lord Protector and wielding heretical magic granted to you by a capricious god, you will need every ounce of cunning you can muster in order to cut your way to the heart of a conspiracy, avenge the death of your sister, and claim the throne that is yours by right.

###### 

**THE CONSPIRATORS**

###### 

Your companion in arms is Lord Protector CORVO ATTANO, a common-born Serkonan soldier and one of the finest swordsmen in the Empire. He's been your bodyguard since you were twelve, your lover since you were eighteen, and your partner in all things for more than a decade. When you were younger he used to sneak you out of the Tower for nocturnal adventures down in the city, and it was from him that you learned how to climb, fight, and sneak around undetected. A formidable melee fighter, master of stealth, and the only soul in the world that you truly trust, Corvo accompanies you on all of your field missions and runs security at the Tower.

Your first ally in Dunwall is FARLEY HAVELOCK, a disgraced former admiral unjustly blamed for introducing the Rat Plague to Dunwall. He was working with Delilah to discover the true origins of the Rat Plague and hopefully clear his name, and he doesn't believe her murder was a lover's spat any more than you do. He's happy to provide any assistance you might need, not only because he's a patriot, but because with Delilah dead you're his only hope to clear his name and restore his commission.

Second is Overseer TEAGUE MARTIN, tasked with the investigation of your sister's murder. It was an assignment meant to put him out of the way, with the murderer supposedly in custody, but Martin developed his own suspicions about Luca's culpability, and those questions led him to Havelock. Martin is clever and ruthless, with a keen tactical mind and a suspiciously wide array of criminal connections for a supposedly righteous man. He makes no secret of his ambition to rise through the ranks in Abbey leadership, but he does seem to genuinely want to solve Delilah's murder and see justice served.

Rounding out your motley trio is Lord TREAVOR PENDLETON, a friend from the old days before your daughter's birth. Several years your senior, the two of you nevertheless had the common experience of being the less-favored younger sibling of charismatic court favorites, and spent many a boring evening at court swilling wine and trading witticisms about the guests. Now he's the only ally at court you can actually trust, though for ambition as much as friendship: his family's fortune and influence are controlled by his older brothers, the clever and vicious Pendleton twins, and working with you is his only hope to get out from under their thumb.

Last but certainly not least is your Royal Secretary, CALLISTA CURNOW. She's the niece of one of the few genuine friends you have in this blighted city, and she keeps your secrets and keeps you afloat at court. In addition to managing your correspondence and assisting with any courtly duties, she also helps cover up your frequent absences from the Tower, leaving you free to pursue your extracurricular activities.

###### 

**THE POWERS**

###### 

As one of the select few Marked by the Outsider, you gain a number of supernatural abilities. The first of these is the ARCANE BOND, which allows you to share your magic with a trusted companion. As your chosen Bonded, Corvo gains magical abilities of his own, which will change and grow alongside yours. The Bond allows you to Summon Corvo to your side and Corvo to know where you are at all times.

STATUE allows you to remain unnoticed while unmoving. You can hold it for longer if there are less people around, and you can hide one additional person with you, though only for a shorter time. Enhanced, it will allow you to maintain the effect for longer, especially when hiding a compatriot.

BLINK allows Corvo to move short distances instantaneously. He can move further horizontally than vertically, and he can carry one additional person with him, though only for shorter distances. Enhanced, it will allow him to move further distances, especially when carrying a passenger.

PULL allows you to stealthily pick up small objects from a distance and bring them to your hand. Enhanced, it will allow you to pick up much heavier objects or even people, though doing so is likely to attract undue attention.

WINDBLAST allows Corvo to throw out a gust of wind from his hand, fierce enough to stagger a strong man or shatter weak wood. Enhanced, it will allow the blast to severely wound or even kill a human target and break through thick hardwood or thin metal.

MESMERIZE allows you to summon a Void spirit that can enthrall a target and make them susceptible to questioning. Enhanced, it will allow you to briefly entrance groups of people, keeping them in a waking dream and unaware of their surroundings. Corvo is immune to the mesmerizing effect, and can move and act as normal within its area of effect.

BEND TIME allows Corvo to temporarily slow time in a limited area around him, but afterwards time will briefly accelerate to 'catch up' to the rest of the world. Enhanced, it will allow Corvo to stop time entirely for a shorter period of time. You are immune to the time dilation effect, and can move and act as normal within its area of effect.

Both of you have access to DARK VISION, which allows you to see in the dark and to locate the runes you need to consume in order to grow your powers. Enhanced, it will allow you to see through walls and locate security systems and other complex mechanical equipment.

###### 

**THE EQUIPMENT**

###### 

A long veteran of the kind of nocturnal adventures not usually allowed for ladies of your rank, you already possess a set of specialized gear fit for running the rooftops undetected. Weapons and equipment can be upgraded throughout the game by collecting the necessary blueprints and materials during your missions and bringing them to disgraced philosopher Piero Joplin for improvement. It's from Piero that you first receive Corvo's alarmingly skull-like faceplate and your customized vapor mask, as well as your primary weapons: a folding sword for Corvo that can be hidden under his coat for surprise assaults, and an intricate compound crossbow for you that can load several bolts and fire in rapid succession.

###### 

When in the field, you wear a black hooded peacoat over a heavy silk vest, with thin leather shooting gloves and soft-soled knee boots. Your vapor mask covers your mouth and nose, protecting you from the effects of your own gas canisters, and has a monocle lens attachment on the right side, which can be folded down over your eye to zoom in your vision like a spyglass. The monocle can be upgraded with an additional lens for long-distance sniping, and the mask filter can be upgraded to muffle your breathing for enhanced stealth. Your primary weapon is Piero's customized crossbow, which loads bolts and sleep darts by default but can be upgraded to include incendiary bolts and stinging darts. Your secondary weapons are gas canisters worn on a bandolier across your chest, which carries chokedust by default but can be upgraded to include poison gas and chloroform.

When in the field, Corvo wears a sleeveless hooded dueling coat over a protective leather vest, with fingerless leather dueling gloves and reinforced leather jackboots. His skull mask has built-in audio receptors that improve his hearing even with his hood up, and the right eyepiece has a built-in lens that can be rotated to zoom in his vision like a spyglass. The metal plating can be reinforced to provide increased damage resistance, and the audio receptors can be upgraded to overhear conversations even from long distances away. His primary weapon is Piero's folding sword, which can be upgraded to be more effective during blade locks and against armor. His secondary weapon is a pistol worn at the small of his back, which loads standard oil-powered frag rounds by default but can be upgraded to include armor-piercing slugs or explosive bullets.

###### 

**THE LOCATIONS**

###### 

Your downtime in between missions is split between two locations: the Royal Rooms at the Tower, and your mission base at the Hound Pits Pub. Both will grow and change throughout the course of the narrative, reflecting the actions you take and the feats you accomplish.

###### 

The royal quarters cover the entire top floor of the Tower, which is split into two levels. The upper contains the living quarters, such as the imperial suite, the Royal Protector's room, and Delilah's studio, though the latter remains shuttered until the final scene of the game. The lower level contains the more public rooms, including your office, Corvo's office, and the formal receiving room. A library connects the two levels, rising up through the middle with the rooms arranged in a ring around it.

Your living quarters start out decorated in Delilah's signature dramatic style, lots of bold colors and dark fabrics and starkly empty walls. Over the course of the game the decorations will slowly change to a lighter, more neutral color scheme, and in-game collectibles like portraits and valuables will fill the empty walls and display cases. Your office likewise begins as Delilah left it, heaped with books and loose papers, but over the course of the game your Royal Secretary will slowly bring order to the chaos. Correspondence from courtiers and advisors will appear on your desk at the start of each mission, reflecting your growing influence on the Dunwall political sphere, as well as personal letters from your daughter and diplomatic replies from members of the foreign courts.

Corvo's office, adjoined to yours, suffers from the inverse problem at the start of the game. Delilah's Lord Protector died of a heart attack some years past - overindulgence of food and drink, was the unkind but accurate conclusion - and Delilah never got around to replacing him. Tower security has largely been handled by the Royal Spymaster since his demise, but Corvo could never entrust your safety to someone else, especially not after an assassin has already struck. Over the course of the game his dusty, disused office will brighten and fill, and the previously empty walls will be slowly covered up by maps and patrol rosters. Correspondence from City Watch and Naval officers will appear on his desk at the start of each mission, reflecting his growing control over imperial security concerns, as well as personal letters from your daughter and old friends from outside Dunwall.

###### 

The Hound Pits Pub is an abandoned dockside tavern, famous for its bloody fights and bloodier backroom dealings. Purchased by Havelock some years prior, the on-site brewery has recently been converted into a makeshift distillery to produce Piero's Remedy. Conveniently located right on the river and close enough to the quarantine zone that river patrols rarely venture near, it's an ideal site to both receive smuggled supplies and ship out the completed Remedies to black-market distributors. Even discounted steeply from Sokolov's Elixir, they're still making money hand over fist with the operation. For your purposes, however, the important thing is that the river traffic from the smugglers makes an ideal cover for your illicit comings and goings.

In addition to the Pub and Piero's little two-story workshop, the riverfront area boasts the crumbling remains of a several-story building that's now used as a lookout tower, a long low building on the other side of the brewery filled with empty kennel cages, and the eponymous Hound Pit, containing the enormous two-story fight cage and betting parlor. Set back a ways from the main building, the Pit is used as a sort of makeshift laboratory for Piero's research, with failures locked in the kennels for further testing once they start weeping blood.

Unlike Sokolov, whose bargain with the City Watch includes a steady supply of prisoners to use as test subjects, Piero's work is done on already-infected volunteers, who come to him in the vague hope that his work might keep them from the slow death of the quarantine zone. Over the course of the game you can track the progression of Piero's research in the number of weepers versus the number of stable infected, and the operation eventually grows to the point that even the negligent river patrols can't fail to miss the activity. In order to protect your base of operations you'll have to negotiate a mutually beneficial arrangement with the Watch, providing discounted Remedy to supply their meager ration of Elixir in exchange for them continuing to overlook your presence in the quarantine zone.

The pub itself is a four-story brick building in the center of the city block. At the beginning of your story it's something of a wreck, having been shut down by the advancing quarantine zone almost a year ago, but over the course of the game it slowly grows into a bustling hub of information, research, and trade. The bar on the ground floor serves as the sociable meeting place for your various friends and allies, while the second floor houses the servant's quarters, bathing facilities, and Havelock's private rooms. The third floor is the storage space for Piero's supplies, and the fourth-floor attic, kept carefully locked against an overly-curious bystanders, is the site of all your planning and machinations. Over the course of the game the walls and desks will slowly fill with maps, sketches, and surveillance reports, and at the beginning of each mission you will meet with your fellow conspirators to review the mission board for intelligence regarding the mission target.

###### 

**THE MISSIONS**

###### 

Your primary motivation is to unravel the conspiracy around the imperial throne and to get justice for your sister's death, which requires getting information out of a number of people singularly uninterested in giving it to you. Thus, each mission involves two phases: locating and extracting your mission-critical target, and then performing your interrogation at a secure location.

###### 

Most targets are highly guarded, so the scouting and extraction requires a high degree of stealth and/or combat ability. You're generally happy to defer to Corvo's expertise during combat or infiltration, but neither are you a liability in the field. Corvo's unorthodox approach to personal security has left you with a number of skills not usually found in ladies of your rank, and by now you're nearly as proficient as Corvo when it comes to running, climbing, and sneaking around. A childhood interest in alchemy provides the expertise necessary to create your own gas canisters, and while Corvo has largely given up trying to teach you to fence, you've always been an absolutely crack shot with a crossbow. Combined with Corvo's tactical brilliance and his famed skill with a sword, the two of you make a formidable team, capable of overcoming almost any obstacle so long as you work together.

Extractions can be performed in a number of ways, from silent sneaking to wholesale slaughter. When utilizing stealth, your Statue power can be combined with Corvo's Blink to afford you a number of non-standard paths to your target. In addition to passing unnoticed, you can also use situational invisibility to lure targets into position for Corvo's silent takedown, or Corvo can create a distraction that sends them fleeing directly towards your waiting crossbow. Corvo's Bend Time power and your enhanced Mesmerize similarly afford you several options to avoid combat entirely.

Alternatively, you can use your abilities to bring encounters to a swift and brutal end. Corvo's Bend Time affords you the opportunity to snipe targets at your leisure, and your Mesmerize can take enemies out of the fight and leave them vulnerable to Corvo's silent strike. Corvo's Wind Blast can be used to stun or even kill entire groups of enemies, or just to quickly group up scattered enemies into an easy target for your poison gas. Chokedust is extremely flammable, making it an incendiary target for Corvo's upgraded pistol rounds, and your Pull can catch thrown grenades or lift tanks of whale oil for Corvo to shoot with explosive results. Enhanced, Pull can also lift human enemies, either to use as a shield against ranged attacks or hold them in place for Corvo's takedown.

Just because you get into combat, however, doesn't mean it has to end in blood. Corvo is nearly as adept with a Tyvian choke hold as he is with a blade, and with the high ground he can perform a silent aerial takedown. Your crossbow can be loaded with sleep darts to knock out opponents or upgraded to use stinging bolts that send them off into distracted paroxysms of itching. Canisters of chokedust can be used to distract enemies or chloroform to knock them out, and your Mesmerize, once enhanced, can be used to take entire groups out of the fight and allow you to pass unharmed.

###### 

Once the target has been extracted to a secure location, the interrogation begins. Your Mesmerize ability can be used to enthrall a single unsuspecting target, inducing a dreamlike, confessional state. All answers given will be truthful from the target's perspective, but might be inaccurate due to delusion or a limited perspective. Personality also plays a factor in how questions are answered; a target with a strong will or a habit of deception will give less than an honest or undisciplined mind. You can try to guide their confessions to relevant information, but be careful: too many questions, especially about sensitive subjects, can cause the target to clam up and grow resistant. It's also exhausting to maintain, and losing control will cause the mesmerism to snap and rebound, making the target aware of the enthrallment. Otherwise, the target will wake up with no recollection of anything that occurred. Their dreams will be unsettled for weeks or months to come, however, and they will be plagued by a persistent feeling that they've lost something vital, if only they could just remember what it was.

###### 

After the interrogation is complete, it is up to you to decide the target's fate. You have little real power in the Tower and any overt arrests could alert your enemies that you are coming for them, so you can't remand them into custody to face the crown's justice. They must be removed, thoroughly and permanently, but the method is up to you. Will you offer some small mercy and smuggle them out past the quarantine so they can escape the city? Will you try to eke out some form of rough justice and deliver punishment you consider fitting? Will you satisfy your need for vengeance and execute them for their crimes? Choose carefully, but remember: someone is always watching.


	2. THE NARRATIVE

You're in Dunwall for days before you finally receive your first real lead in your sister's murder, in the form of disgraced admiral Havelock bullying his way into your office over Callista's shocked protests and Corvo's drawn sword. Havelock, as it turns out, was helping Delilah investigate the origins of the Rat Plague in hopes of clearing his name, and he thinks that whatever she found was the thing that got her killed. Grateful to finally have an ally beyond Corvo, you eagerly agree to meet him at his base of operations in the quarantine zone, where you can speak without fear of being overheard.

The following evening Havelock introduces you to Martin, the Overseer tasked with investigating Delilah's murder, and the two of them go over everything they've managed to piece together. Delilah came to Havelock some weeks before her death with a theory, based on the findings of a scientist named Galvani: she thought the Plague started in the inner-city slums, rather than the docks as you'd suppose if Havelock's expedition had been the cause. After sifting through death rolls, medical records, and eyewitness accounts, Havelock was able to put together a rough timeline that seemed to confirm it. Delilah took his evidence and said she was going to get proof, but that was the last time he saw her.

Meanwhile, Martin had his own suspicions about the circumstances surrounding Delilah's murder. Even if Luca _had_ managed to carry it out successfully, there was nothing for him to gain from her death; he was her consort, not her husband, and all power he derived from his position would vanish without her. Furthermore, if the crime had instead been committed in the heat of passion, where did he get the weapon? Luca was hardly in the habit of wearing a sword, at the Tower or elsewhere, and if he _had_ been carrying one, then where did it _go_? Witnesses were on the scene seconds after the murder, and yet the sword was nowhere to be found. Something didn't add up, and when Martin dug deeper he learned that Abele had claimed 'magic assassins' were responsible for Delilah's death. It was dismissed as the ravings of a lunatic, of course, but Martin found it plausible: he's heard rumors of black-magic mercenaries operating in Dunwall for years, though obviously the Abbey tried to keep it hushed up. When he tried to get into Coldridge to interview Luca himself, however, he found his efforts blocked by sources unknown, with a not-so-veiled warning that he was one wrong move away from the wrong end of a Heretic's Brand. Neither he nor Havelock can get any further on their own, but you have a lot more leverage, even considering your precarious position at court, and you have Corvo, whose skill with a blade is legendary even after ten years away. If anyone can push the investigation forward and get to the truth, it's you.

That night, you're visited in your dreams by the Outsider, the capricious god of the Void reviled by the Abbey as the cause of all human sin. He tells you that you will play a pivotal role in days to come and Marks you with his favor, granting you access to magic from the Void itself and branding you a heretic in the eyes of the Abbey. When you wake, you use your newfound power to Bind Corvo to your Mark in turn, granting him abilities of his own and tying his soul to yours with bonds of arcane magic. Among your new powers is the ability to Mesmerize a target into a dreamlike, confessional state, which might just be the final key you need to unravel the mystery of your sister's death.

###### 

**THE ROYAL CONSORT**

###### 

Your first mission is to get inside Coldridge Prison and retrieve the sole witness to your sister's death: Luca Abele, the man accused of her murder. Doing so requires the full extent of your and Corvo's new abilities, but eventually you manage to sneak or fight your way past the City Watch and extract Luca, escaping quickly down into the canal. After traversing the sewers underneath Dunwall Tower, you are met on the other side by the boatman Samuel Beechworth, who takes you and your captive back to the Hound Pits for interrogation.

Locked away in Piero's lab for privacy, you Mesmerize Luca and begin questioning him about Delilah's death. He insists that he didn't kill Delilah, that he could _never_ have hurt Delilah. Someone called the guards away, leaving them alone to face a gang of assassins wielding black magic. They appeared as if from thin air and held him aloft while Delilah was killed before his very eyes. When pressed for a description, he can only describe dark figures and masks - except for the killer himself, who wore a red coat and had a scar on his face.

When questioned further, Luca knows nothing about Delilah's investigation into the Rat Plague, but he was aware that _something_ was going on: she was up late a lot lately, working in her office, hiding papers when he came into the room. When pressed further, he mentions that that Havelock fellow visited a couple of times… and that she went to see Sokolov, only a couple of weeks before her death. It was odd, because usually Sokolov came to the Tower, not the other way around. Maybe he'd know more?

Before you can release your mesmerism, Luca goes on to blurt the truth of what happened to his younger brother all those years ago, how he egged Radanis into killing that street girl and how her friend took revenge. He remembers none of it when you break the spell, but you are disgusted by this last revelation. You promised his father you'd save him if he could, but having done so, you can choose between turning him loose in the city to fend for himself, or smuggling him out past the blockade so he can sail safely home to Karnaca. If you choose the latter, you also have the option to send a letter to Theodanis that details Luca's involvement in his brother's death. Either way, he's gone and you're ready to move on to your next target.

###### 

**THE ROYAL PHYSICIAN**

###### 

As a member of your court, you could in theory merely summon Sokolov to your office and demand an accounting. However, such a bold move could be risky even if Sokolov isn't part of the plot: watchful eyes are everywhere, and the last thing you want is for word to get out that you're investigating. And besides, you're not so convinced that Sokolov is innocent. He always seemed fond of Delilah, who studied portraiture under him for a number of years in her youth, but his primary loyalty is and has always been to himself. And so you and Corvo sneak or fight your way to his apartment at the top of Kaldwin's Bridge, where you lock yourselves in Sokolov's laboratory and begin your interrogation.

Under the clarifying effect of your Mesmerism, Sokolov reveals that Delilah came to him with her theory that the Plague started in the slums. When he was able to confirm her findings, she seemed to believe that the Plague had been deliberately introduced, by a foreign agent or a local traitor, she didn't know which. They didn't get a chance to speak again after that; the next time he saw her was when he discovered her body. You didn't know Sokolov was the one to find her and Luca; oh yes, him and the High Overseer, just after it happened. High Overseer Campbelll? What was _he_ doing there? Oh, getting his portrait painted - for some reason he _insisted_ that Sokolov use the Tower gardens as backdrop, even though it didn't suit his coloring at all. Bloody Overseers, what do you expect?

Campbell is not in the habit of visiting the Tower, for his portrait or otherwise. He and Delilah weren't overly fond of one another - he considered her a flighty heretic, she considered him a corrupt blowhard - and the only reason he could have had for such a contrived visit is if he'd known what was going to happen. You doubt he's the architect of the asssassination, however. Campbell wouldn't have the authority to get rid of the guards, and Campbell, like Luca, wouldn't have much to gain from Delilah's death. Not unless there was someone else who benefited from Delilah's removal, someone who could offer enough to make it worth involving himself in a regicide. Which means that whoever was behind Delilah's assassination, Campbell almost certainly knows their name.

###### 

**THE HIGH OVERSEER**

###### 

Getting into Holger Square will be a challenge, though less so for one of your unique abilities. Finding a place to interrogate Campbell, on the other hand, is another matter altogether. The Office of the High Overseer is heavily patrolled with very little privacy, and Campbell's absence would raise about a dozen different alarms. However, Martin comes through with a lead: there's supposed to be a safe room somewhere in the lower levels that Campbell retreats to when threatened, and rumor is that he sometimes entertains _very_ un-priestly company. If you can find out where the room is and, optionally, when he'll next be expecting company, you can intercept him there and question him at your leisure.

You can either go straight to Holger Square and search it yourself to find the safe room in the basement, or you can meet with Slackjaw, the leader of the gang that controls the nearby territory. To get into the Dunwall Whiskey Distillery where he has his headquarters, you'll need to get a password from one of the gang members out and about in the distillery district. There's a pair threatening a black-market dealer near the main street and another group threatening Granny Rags in her apartment, either of which can be captured and interrogated for the password. Once inside, Slackjaw's willing enough to meet with you and offers a trade, a favor for a favor. You can either perform a quick side trip to the home of a local art dealer named Bunting, using Mesmerize to get the code to his safe (and, optionally, stealing a number of his paintings on the way out) or you can threaten Slackjaw into giving you the information gratis. Either way, you learn the location of the safe room and the back entrance used by the Golden Cat courtesans.

Once inside Holger Square you find Campbell in his safe room, either waiting for the courtesans or, if you've raised the alarm, in hiding from the intruders. Unfortunately, he proves surprisingly resistant to the effects of your mesmerism. While he is compelled to speak honestly, his answers are nonetheless circular and obstructive, characteristic of a lifetime habit of dishonesty. You're able to confirm that he did know about Delilah's assassination beforehand, and that he was instructed to be onsite the day of so he could get Luca arrested for the crime, but he manages to avoid telling you the name of the man responsible for setting up the assassination in the first place. Frustrated with this unexpected failure of a so-far-reliable ability, you end up pushing too hard with your questions and cause the magic to snap and rebound. Campbell wakes up yelling about heresy while you're staggered from the backlash, but Corvo gets behind him and chokes him out before he can attack.

You then choose between killing him outright, dosing his brandy with some of his own stash of poison so it looks like a suicide, or taking him up to the interrogation room and branding him with the Heretic's Brand, leaving him to be turned out alone and friendless into a plague-ridden city. Either way, before you leave you take his famous black book of blackmail and bring it back to Martin to be decoded. The book doesn't name his co-conspirator either, but it _does_ name the assassin who did the deed: Daud, the infamous heretic gang leader known as the Knife of Dunwall.

###### 

**THE KNIFE OF DUNWALL**

###### 

Daud is rumored to have a base somewhere in the Flooded District, but while hunting him to ground in his own lair _would_ be satisfying, it's also needlessly risky to the point of suicide. You haven't forgotten what Luca said about the magic he and his men used to kill Delilah, and the abilities he described are too familiar to dismiss the idea that Daud himself might be Marked as you are. Not to mention the small army of mercenaries he has under his command, any or all of whom might have abilities of their own, if he can Bond his men the way you did Corvo. You're going to have to find a way to lure him out.

Fortunately, Campbell's helpful black book gives you one other piece of information: the names of a few other nobles who also used the assassin's services. A few discreet inquiries by Pendleton secure you the location of the dead drop used to indicate an interest in his services, and you set up a meeting in the Old Waterfront district on the east side of the river. Pendleton's manservant Wallace attends on his behalf, using the pretense of wanting to hire him to eliminate Custis and Morgan. While he speaks with Daud, you and Corvo have the opportunity to eliminate the squad of Whalers that are patrolling the rooftops. Be careful, however: if any of the assassins are alerted, everyone remaining will converge on your location. Likewise, if you take too long taking care of the Whalers, Daud will suspect that something is wrong and search you out using his own Dark Vision, and you'll lose the element of surprise. Even if everything goes perfectly, however, you'll still run up against the first unpleasant surprise of the evening when you shoot him with a sleep dart and discover that he's immune to sedatives.

It immediately turns into a no-holds-barred sword fight between Daud and Corvo, while Wallace scrambles away to safety and you do your best to assist at range. The fight is easier if you've already eliminated the rest of the Whalers; otherwise they come to Daud's aid, and you'll have to work together with Corvo to take them out of the fight while still trying to hold Daud at bay. When all of the Whalers are eliminated and it's back to just the three of you, you encounter unpleasant surprise number two: just as the Whalers aren't immune to your powers, neither is Corvo immune to _Daud's_ , as you discover when Daud stops time and Corvo stops with it. You manage to save Corvo by hastily Summoning him to your side a split second before Daud's sword would have found his neck, and with your hand on him the time dilation drops away. Corvo narrows his eyes, bends time around his own hand, and dives back into the fight before Daud can make his escape. Even so, the fight is a close one: Corvo is the better swordsman, but Daud is the stronger sorcerer, and adept at avoiding your projectiles.

Eventually you bring the fight to a close when Corvo manages to drive Daud back to the place where you wait, invisible. You get an arm around his neck and choke him out just like Corvo taught you, while Corvo grimly holds him still to keep from fighting loose. When he's finally unconscious, you and Corvo hastily load him into a railcar and take him to the Dunwall Clocktower a couple miles south. You lock him in an empty supply cage and chain his hands together behind his back to keep him from using any magic, and Corvo goes to watch for any additional Whalers Daud might have Summoned before you knocked him out.

When Daud wakes up, you come to unpleasant discovery number three: just as you're immune to Daud's time dilation, Daud is immune to your mesmerism. Furthermore, he _recognizes_ you, even with the mask and hood covering most of your face. It's your eyes, he says; you have your sister's eyes, and he got a real close look when he put a sword through her guts. Behind you metal chimes in the familiar sound of Corvo's sword unfolding, but you hold up a hand to quiet him and say that Daud should know what you're about to ask, then. Not only does he know, he's willing to answer: the man who hired him was none other than Hiram Burrows, the Royal Spymaster himself.

When you can only stare at him, agape - _Burrows_? You would almost have suspected Luca for real, over Burrows - he laughs rustily. That surprises you? It shouldn't: Burrows has been using Daud's services for years. Maybe if you'd bothered to set foot in court sometime in the last decade, you might have noticed how bad things were getting. Or maybe not. Your sister didn't, after all. Not until it was too late. And it gets worse: Burrows was the one who brought the fucking rats into the city, some fucking scheme to cull the weak and poor to 'improve society.' And hey, you don't have to take his word for it: Daud has evidence, testimony, nothing he could use himself but powerful enough, in the right hands. He tells you the location of the safe - a dead drop in Draper's Ward - and the combination to open it, and then there's nothing left for you to do but decide his fate.

Before you can choose, however, Daud manages to escape his makeshift cell. Apparently the whole time he was talking he was also working to pick the lock on his cuffs, and as soon as your attention wavers he breaks free with a single powerful kick. He bends time to stop Corvo from interfering, Blinks behind you and grabs your hand to stop you from Summoning him, and gets his other arm around your throat. You think you're going to die right then and there, but he only hesitates, his breath stuttering sharply in his chest, and then rasps _I'm sorry_ in your ear before he lets you go and Blinks straight off the edge into empty air.

By the time you gather yourself to chase after him, he's long gone. The safe is exactly where he said it'd be and the combination opens on the first try, revealing a neatly bundled stack of papers, addressed to you by name. You stare at it for a long moment, realizing that Daud knew you were looking and came to your trap anyway, then take the papers, close the safe, and go back to the Pub.

###### 

**THE ROYAL SPYMASTER**

###### 

Daud's information checks out almost perfectly to the timeline you've reassembled out of Delilah's notes, filling in the holes. There can be no question: Hiram Burrows not only committed the blackest of treason when he commissioned the murder of an empress, he also brought about the doom of Dunwall when he deliberately introduced plague rats into the city's slums. Knowing his guilt and doing something about it are two very different things, however. Not only is he armored socially and politically, with close ties to both the Pendletons and the Boyles and fingers in every nook and cranny of Dunwall's society, he's also currently dug in at his new office at the top of Kingsparrow Lighthouse.

Supposedly he went there to personally supervise the construction of such a high-profile project, but knowing what you do now, you suspect it had more to do with the fate of his co-conspirator Campbell. Kingsparrow Island is covered by a small army of construction workers, City Watchmen, and Tallboys, as well as fresh installations of arc pylons and walls of light, and if you want to confront Burrows you're going to have to sneak or fight your way past all of them. If you manage to get through without raising any alarms you can take the elevator up to his office, but if you've set up alarms Burrows will recall and lock the elevator, forcing you to climb the scaffolding of the third-tallest building in Dunwall to reach your target.

Either way, once you reach the top and neutralize one final round of guards, all that's left to do is confront Burrows and pry the truth out of his lying mouth one way or another. Luckily, Burrows has none of Campbell's resistance to your mesmerism: once you have him under he starts talking willingly, almost eagerly, desperate to unburden himself and justify his crimes. Even after everything, he still thinks his Poverty Eradication Plan was logically sound: it _would_ have worked if only all those _poor_ people hadn't ruined things, going where they shouldn't and spreading the disease to their betters. This is why they needed culling! And Delilah, he wouldn't have had to kill her if she hadn't gotten in his _way._ She'd always left the hard work of ruling to him and the others, why did she have to take an interest _now_? If she'd only kept her nose out of his business, he wouldn't have had to remove her. She forced his hand! She practically _dared_ him to do it!

It's enough. It's more than enough, actually - you'll carry the sickness of his words inside you for months and years to come - but for now, for this, it's enough. You snap your fingers, dismissing the spell, and watch Burrows come spluttering awake. He immediately starts calling for his guards, yanking helplessly against the cuffs you used to secure him to the leg of his desk, but quickly realizes no guards are coming. You can choose to reveal yourself to him, pulling down your mask and letting him realize the identity of the Masked Felons who've so terrorized the city over these past weeks, or you can leave your mask intact and leave him to flail about in desperate confusion.

Either way, you now have a choice to make. You can execute him for his crimes: a glance to Corvo and he'll bring you his sword, flipping it open and placing it gently in your hands, wrapping your fingers around the hilt. You look back at Burrows, ask him if he remembers how Delilah died, and let him get just a few spluttering words into a plea for mercy before you shove Corvo's blade straight through his black and rotting heart. Alternatively, you can decide that death is too merciful for the likes of him, and forcing him to really _live_ with the consequences of his actions, the complete loss of control as it all goes spinning out from under him, is a more fitting punishment for the man who almost brought the empire to its knees. You stand and go to the desk, where you remove the card from the audiograph Corvo quietly set to record when you began your interrogation. Before Burrows's horrified eyes, you insert it into the Broadcast Control unit he had especially installed and start playing his recorded confession to every single speaker in Dunwall. Then you replace your mask, bow politely from your waist, and grab Corvo's sleeve to Blink away as footsteps come pounding up the stairs.

###### 

**THE MASQUERADE BALL**

###### 

With Burrows neutralized and your sister's murder avenged, the only thing between you and your rightful throne is confirmation in Parliament. Unfortunately, two very large obstacles stand in the way of that goal: Pendleton twins and the Boyle sisters, the heads of two opposing voting blocs currently strangling Parliament into a deadlock. Both will have to be neutralized by fair means or foul before you can attain the majority you need to receive your confirmation.

You begin with the Boyle sisters, a trio of viciously cunning noblewomen who made a second fortune off the Rat Plague when crystals needed for anti-rat lights were discovered on their land. You're familiar with all of them, having come up in the same unforgiving circles: quiet Lydia, brilliant and mysterious, whose musical talent made her a great favorite of Delilah's artistic set; little Waverly, flighty and cruel, whose smallest word makes or breaks reputations; and charming Esma, lush and promiscuous, whose drunken lechery hides a ruthless intelligence that makes mincemeat of those foolish enough to underestimate her. Unlike the Pendleton twins, who are known almost as much for their cruelty as their business sense, the Boyle sisters are considered reasonable enough, in their own way, and you'd rather have them as allies than as enemies.

Your mission, therefore, is to acquire the leverage necessary to bring them to heel. Luckily, the annual Boyle Masquerade is coming up soon, giving you access not only to their home but also to every noble, merchant, and grasping socialite in the Boyles' inner circle. You and Corvo received invitations in your own right, of course, but it wouldn't do to attend under your own name and give the game away too early. There are therefore a number of ways to gain entrance to the party: you can pick the pocket of one of the nobles for an invitation, use Mr. Bunting's invitation if you robbed his safe yourself instead of helping Slackjaw, use your powers to sneak in over the rooftops, or go in through the sewers to sneak up from the basement. Either way, once you're inside your job is to collect as much leverage as possible before the ritual unmasking at the stroke of midnight.

There are a number of ways you can go about acquiring information. You can eavesdrop on gossip, using either your powers or Corvo's mask-enhanced hearing. You can pick pockets for intriguing notes and useful bits of scandal. You can sneak into off-limits areas to search bedrooms and offices for journals and business papers. You can get guests drunk to ask them questions, or even isolate them in order to use Mesmerize. Be careful, however: if you're caught out of bounds or spotted using magic, the guards will be called on you and the mission will be a failure. While gathering information, keep in mind that extortion isn't the only path to victory: though blackmail is a tried-and-true noble tradition in Dunwall politics, as empress you'll also be uniquely placed to offer lucrative trade deals or coveted political connections. Learning about the Boyles' financial endeavors and social aspirations is just as valuable as learning the things they'd rather keep hidden.

As the evening draws to a close, the Boyles will begin gathering the guests for the midnight unmasking. You approach Waverly and lower your mask, telling her that you need to speak to her and her sisters alone. She tells you to meet in the private drawing room and passes you the key before going to inform her sisters, and you have one last chance to pick up any information and valuables before you and Corvo slip away into the drawing room to wait. The Ladies Boyle will join you when the unmasking is done and the guests are beginning to disperse, and you will begin your negotiations. What leverage you choose to apply from your carefully-gathered secrets is up to you: whether you blackmail them into bitter submission or coax them into smiling alliance, at the end of the discussion Esma Boyle agrees to support your confirmation at the next Parliament session. Dependent, that is, on the removal of those troublesome Pendleton twins. Any assistance they can offer is limited until the opposition has also been dealt with.

###### 

**THE HOUSE OF PLEASURE**

###### 

If taming the Boyles brought you to the glittering heights of noble society, removing the Pendletons brings you back down into the muck. This is an elimination mission: Morgan and Custis, the Pendleton twins, need to be either assassinated or permanently neutralized, leaving the way clear for Treavor to assume their place in Parliament. In order for him to do so, he needs the cipher to decode their bank book, which contains all of the family secrets. Only with that will he be able to take the reins of the family fortune and provide his assistance in Parliament.

The twins are, as usual, holed up in the Golden Cat, with a small private army of guards patrolling the grounds and the streets surrounding. You can go directly to the Cat, sneaking or fighting your way past the guards, or you can go to Slackjaw, who can get you access through the VIP door and bypass the exterior guards entirely. In exchange, he wants your help with a City Watch lieutenant who's been shipping healthy people off to quarantine in order to loot their homes, and since it's happening in Slackjaw's territory he needs to make a proper example. He wants you to break into the guard outpost, kidnap the lieutenant, and bring him back alive - and he even promises he won't kill the guy, though he can guarantee he won't be happy. You can either agree to his bargain and extract the lieutenant in exchange for the key, or kill Slackjaw (and optionally his guards, who he'll keep with him if you threatened him in your previous encounter) and take his key by force. If you helped Granny Rags on your previous expedition, you can also get a copy of the key from her, in exchange for poisoning Slackjaw's elixir still with infected material to lay his men low with plague.

However you make your entry, once inside the Golden Cat you have a handful of different options to deal with the Morgan and Custis. You can of course kill them directly, through any of the usual methods, as long as you successfully interrogate at least one of them first in order to get the cipher for Treavor. (Morgan will give up the information easily but only remember part of it, forcing you to go through his belongings to fill out the rest; Custis's memory is perfect but he's more resistant to interrogation.) You can also kill them indirectly by luring them down to the steam room and overloading the valve to cook them alive with an 'accidental' steam discharge. If you kill them directly the guards at the waterfront will be on the lookout for the murderers, but if you use the steam room the madame will be arrested for manslaughter and the guards won't be on alert.

Alternatively, if you want to take the nonlethal route, you can have them shipped to quarantine. According to the law the Pendletons helped Burrows push through Parliament in your absence, anyone sent to quarantine is considered legally dead and all titles and property forfeit to their heir. He was using it to steal from merchant families, according to the notes in Daud's intel packet, and a lot of that money went back into Pendleton family coffers. To condemn them to the same fate they visited on countless others, start at the Watch outpost and forge a plague warrant in their names, delivering it to the duty officer downstairs using a reverse pickpocket. In the Golden Cat, you'll have to render them unconscious, smear red paint around their eyes to make it look like they've been weeping blood, and then move them down to the front hall. A canister of chokedust will wake them up and send them coughing and staggering out into the street... and straight into the waiting arms of the Dead Counters, who will immediately remand them into custody. Be sure to interrogate them before they're arrested, otherwise you'll have to break back into the Watch outpost and do it there.

However the mission is resolved, once it's done you adjourn directly to Boyle Manor where Treavor is waiting anxiously for news of his impending inheritance. You deliver the cipher and he disappears to translate while Waverly insists you stay for supper, ignoring your demurrals about being no fit state for company. Lydia, as the tallest of the Boyles and the most likely to have something to suit, brings you a change of clothes and helps you dress, noticing the Mark on your hand as she does so. She says nothing, however, only leads you downstairs where you rendezvous with the other Boyles and an expansively smiling Treavor for a well-earned supper. It's only when the room starts to peel and sway around you that you realize, far too late, that your celebratory champagne was poisoned. As you try and fail to get up out of your chair, Treavor finishes his own glass and explains that he made his own deal with the Boyles. He'll marry Waverly and be voted in as Lord Regent on your daughter's behalf: he has that convenient family connection the Boyles so lack, and with you and Burrows out of the way, there's no one left to stand in their way.

Poisoned, betrayed, and on the verge of passing out, you're dragged downstairs for disposal by a pair of sturdy footmen under Lydia's sharp-eyed observation. She dismisses them once you and Corvo are loaded into the boat, and then hastily reaches into her pocket and pulls out a syringe. She was only able to get a single dose of the antidote, unfortunately, so you'll just have to split it. When you manage to push a single _why_ through your numb lips, she touches the back of your left hand. She knows what _that_ means, oh yes she does, and she has no interest in risking the Outsider's wrath by killing one of his chosen. She tosses your case of gear in next to you and sets the boat adrift: she sent her maid to open the canal gate, you should float right out to the river. Hopefully your little boatman friend can find you there. If not… well, she's done her best. The rest is up to you.

###### 

**THE FLOODED DISTRICT**

###### 

Unfortunately, it's not Samuel that finds you. When you next pry open your eyes you find yourself adrift in the very last place you want to end up: the Flooded District, where Daud has his base. And sure enough, it's not long before you hear the distinct sucking sound of transversals as a Whaler patrol Blinks down to your boat. You listen woozily to a scornful discussion of your amateurish botched poisoning, and before you pass out again you hear them say your fate is up to Daud. When you next surface you're being carried into a rickety elevator cage, Corvo slung over someone's shoulder in the background. You close your eyes in a slow blink and open them again to find yourself on a table, the metal cold under your back. There's someone leaning over you, a hand tilting your head up and a glass at your lips, full of foul-smelling liquid. You panic and lash out, actually managing to land a punch if the surprised grunt is anything to go by, and then someone else is holding you down and a deep voice orders someone to hold your nose. The foul liquid is poured down your throat forcibly, and when you splutter awake after, you see _Daud_ standing there, looking down at you with an unreadable expression. _Don't worry, Princess. You'll feel better when you're awake_. You pass out again before you can muster the strength to call him a liar.

But you do, actually, feel somewhat better when you wake up again. You're also imprisoned: suspended in the elevator cage, dangling in the air over what looks like a _very_ long drop. Panicked yelling produces the information that Corvo is likewise locked in an industrial tank, too sturdy for him to break with Wind Blast. Daud, it seems, put some thought into this. Not quite enough, however: you can either use Pull to grab the elevator key and then jump to the platform and unlatch Corvo's tank, or Summon Corvo into the elevator with you so he can break open the elevator from the inside and Blink you both back to the ledge. Either way, once you're free you scavenge up all the food and supplies you can out of the Whaler cache - you're still unarmed and shivering in bedraggled Boyle finery - and head down to solid ground. If you chose to brand Campbell instead of killing him, you'll find him as a weeper on the ground floor of the refinery.

As you make your way inland, fighting or sneaking past weepers and river krusts, you notice Whalers Blinking around the rooftops. It's possible to escape their notice if you're careful, and even if you're spotted they'll Blink away rather than engage. If you remain undetected you can overhear them saying you'll be found eventually, since even with your powers there's no way out of Rudshore except through the sewer entrance, and Daud holds the only key. Your next destination, therefore, is the Commerce Building, where Daud makes his base. You find it disconcertingly empty, however: while you can't imagine Daud sent _everyone_ out to look for you, you can't find anyone lying in wait, either. Once you creep inside the main building you can follow the sound of Daud's voice up to his office, where you find him in the middle of recording an audiograph. The case of your gear sits on the desk in front of him, with the sewer key sitting squarely on top of it. You don't have to be a fisherman to recognize bait when you see it, but you're out of options.

Daud, however, doesn't seem to be looking for a fight. Even if attacked directly he'll still Blink away to escape rather than fight back, ending up on the second floor looking down at you. He reminds you that he's had your life in his hands twice already, and that Corvo, at least, would be dead if not for him: the single dose Lydia split between you might have been enough for someone of your size, if the hagfish didn't get you first, but Corvo would have been dead in hours. If you ignore him and attack anyway, he'll seem resigned but not surprised, and will fight back until you gain the upper hand and kill him. If you choose to listen, he'll offer to go past the quarantine line and get you some badly-needed leverage for your Parliament vote. All he wants in return is to leave, get out of Dunwall and fade from memory. You can choose to accept his bargain, in which case he'll bow as politely as any courtier and Blink away, or you can reject it and take vengeance for your sister's death. Either way, you reacquire your gear and Daud's key to the sewer entrance, allowing you to move on towards the Rudshore gate.

(Searching Daud's office and bedroom, either before or after the confrontation, turns up a variety of papers implying that he's kept an eye on your movements while stockpiling coin to get out of the city. On the shelf next to his bed is a journal, in which he writes about his fight with Corvo in the Estate District, his surprise at meeting another Serkonan and how good it felt to cross blades with an equal. In his chest is a note to someone named Billie, instructing them on how to get the Whalers out of Dunwall if he's gone. And on his desk is the audiograph he was recording when you came up, rambling about Burrows's downfall and seeing his regret reflected in those blue eyes, so like hers. No one should have to kill an empress - but not many get a chance to save one, either. A life for a life. Maybe it'll be enough.)

You exit the sewer tunnel in the Old Mosley Canal where they've been dumping the bodies of plague victims. If you chose to frame the Pendleton twins instead of killing them, you can find them in one of the alleys nearby, freshly quarantined and still dressed in their bedraggled finery. They're in the process of getting robbed by a couple of coughing ruffians for their coats and boots, and you can intervene or simply move on and leave them to their fate. You'll need to fight or sneak your way past the guards and Tallboys patrolling the Rudshore Gate to exit out into the Old Port District and take the sewers back to the Hound Pits Pub. If you've done at least one favor apiece for Slackjaw and Granny Rags, your way through the sewers will be blocked, forcing you to detour to find the sewer key. Granny will have the key on her belt and Slackjaw prisoner in preparation for cooking him. You can either aid Granny in exchange for the key, free Slackjaw and defeat Granny Rags, or simply steal the key and move on.

###### 

**THE HOUND PITS PUB**

###### 

You exit the sewers into one of the abandoned apartments across the street from the Pub and find what looks like an entire detachment of the City Watch on patrol outside. According to overheard conversations and a note found on the bar downstairs in the Pub, they're there to arrest the 'traitors responsible for the tragic murder of Princess Jessamine.' Piero will be locked in his workshop with Anton Sokolov, who caught word of Piero's research and came down to see if he produced anything worthy of consideration, and they'll be working on an oversized arc reactor that can be used to stun or kill every guard in the area. If Havelock is still in residence he'll be up in the lookout tower with the key needed to activate the pylon; if he left with Treavor the key will be in the possession of the Senior Watchman, and you'll have to either kill, knock out, or pickpocket him in order to activate the pylon. Alternatively, you can skip the pylon entirely and handle the guards and Tallboys yourself.

Once the siege is ended, any conspirators still alive and present gather in the mission room to discuss your next move. You've been out for several days, which was time enough for Treavor and Waverly to muster their allies and call an emergency vote in Parliament. The vote is tomorrow - today, now, actually, as it's nearly dawn. You and Corvo are both exhausted, battered, and still somewhat ill from the poison, but if you want to stop the Usurpers and force your confirmation in Parliament, this might be your only chance to take your throne and save this city. And considering that you doubt Treavor and Waverly will content themselves to a mere Regency forever, it might be your only chance to save the life of your daughter, as well.

###### 

**THE HOUSE OF LAW**

###### 

In this final mission, you are infiltrating the exalted halls of the House of Parliament, the seat of imperial power and law. Located several miles inland on the eastern side of the river and built in a semicircle around the Dunwall Clocktower, the Parliament Building is considered one of the most secure locations in the city, second only to the Tower itself. Dropped off by Samuel at the canal gate, it's up to you to sneak or fight your way through a small army of City Watchmen, private guards, and (optionally) Overseers in order to make your way into the Parliament building proper. There are several different entrances you can use, depending on your path: you can come down from the roof, up through the basement, sneak in through the Watch outpost, or stroll right on through the front door. However you get inside, you'll need to make your way to the receiving hall at the back of the building, where you'll find Captain Curnow (and, optionally, Callista) waiting with a small detachment of loyal guards. Curnow will stand his men down once you remove your mask to show him your face, and you can choose to take a moment to make yourself presentable, or proceed straight into the Assembly Hall.

They will be in the middle of counting the confirmation vote for Treavor's Regency when you walk into the room, which will of course bring the assembly to a standstill - especially after you announce, in a clear and ringing voice, that Treavor and Waverly committed regicide by their own hand while you were a guest in their home. Treavor will go into a panic, Waverly will try and send the guards after you as an imposter, but the guards only look uneasily between you before deliberately stepping back. You proceed to the front of the room, pulling your betrayers from the throne that is rightfully yours and casting them to the floor, where you will be given the option of either executing them right then and there in front of the entire assembly, or having the Watch remand them into custody for attempted regicide.

Either way, once they have been disposed of and you have the full attention of every lord and lady present, one of three nobles will motion for your confirmation. If you accepted Daud's bargain and your overall chaos level has remained low throughout the game, it will be Celia Pendleton, who Daud retrieved from the country to assume her cousin's votes. If you accepted Daud's bargain and your overall chaos level is high, it will be Esma Boyle, because Daud kidnapped her young daughter to use as a hostage. If Daud was killed in the Flooded District, it will be Lydia Boyle, ignoring her sister's objections in an attempt to regain _something_ out of the mess of Waverly's failed coup. Whoever brings the motion, the vote will pass and you will be confirmed as the next Empress of the Isles: Jessamine Kaldwin, First of her Name.

###### 

**THE DLC**

###### 

In the expansion you'll be playing as Daud, the infamous Knife of Dunwall, in six all-new missions that showcase the city as you've never seen it before. Ranging from the exalted halls of the Academy of Natural Philosophy to the blood-soaked streets of the meanest slums, you will follow Daud's quest to unravel a mystery given to him by the Outsider, which draws him closer and closer to a confrontation that will decide his fate once and for all.

The story begins mere days after Jessamine's arrival in Dunwall, when the Outsider appears in your dreams with a mystery for old time's sake: _it starts,_ he says with a malicious smile, _with a black rose._ You're no gardener but you're fairly certain there's no such flower, which helps your second, Billie Lurk, to track the name to Rothwild Slaughterhouse: a whaling ship named the _Black Rose_ left port just ahead of the blockade. Your first mission is to infiltrate the slaughterhouse and interrogate Bundry Rothwild, from whom you learn that the ship was purchased from Barrister Arnold Timsh about a year ago. He'd been in a real hurry to offload it too - even sold it at a loss, which wasn't like the greedy bastard. Interrogation complete, you can choose between killing Rothwild, leaving him in the chair, or sending him off to Tyvia in his own shipping crate.

In the second mission you agree to deal with Timsh in exchange for information from his niece, Thalia. You can either kill him or have him arrested using the same corrupt mechanism he's used to evict and bankrupt others, so long as he's permanently out of the way and you retrieve his will to bring back to Thalia. Whichever you choose, Thalia explains that Timsh brought the ship for his mistress Breanna Ashworth, the 'Black Rose' the ship was named for. Ashworth was of noble birth originally, but her family disowned her after some early disgrace at court, and she turned her passions to the Academy instead. She's a tenured professor there, a horticulturist of some note.

Your search for answers therefore takes you to the Academy of Natural Philosophy in the third mission, looking for information about Ashworth. You learn she specializes in medicinal applications for poisonous flowers, which is one half of the reason she earned her nickname; that, and the dark skin she inherited from her Serkonan mother. She has a collection of rare Pandyssian specimens she brought back from a continental expedition a little over a year ago, which is considered the envy of the Academy and kept carefully locked against prying eyes. When you break into her greenhouse, however, you find it abandoned except for her research assistant, who tremblingly reveals that Ashworth hasn't been seen in weeks. A few days before she disappeared, he spotted her down by the loading dock, in conversation with a woman that exactly matches the description of famed smuggler and river pirate Lizzie Stride.

Lizzie, as it turns out, is currently locked up in Coldridge and can't tell anyone much of anything, so your fourth mission is to break her out. Security has tightened since the mysterious Masked Felons extracted Luca Abele right out from under everyone's nose, but it's still no match for you and you soon have Lizzie safely back to your base and in a talkative mood. Of course she remembers Ashworth; used to do jobs for her all the time, smuggling supplies and people in and out of the city, which doesn't sound any philosopher _you've_ ever heard of. Last time she saw Ashworth she was scared, _really_ scared, looking for a place to lie low. Lizzie sent her on to the Hatters, so if you want to find her, you're going to have to deal with the Geezer.

Your fifth mission takes place in Drapers Ward: first helping Lizzie reclaim her ship from her traitorous lieutenant in exchange for a fast exit out past the quarantine line if things go south in Dunwall, and then into Hatter territory to find Ashworth. The Geezer isn't in charge anymore, as it happens; he's being puppeted by his nurse, Academy dropout William Trimble. Trimble is willing to tell you what you want to know in exchange for assistance getting the water mill powered again. You can either agree to his bargain and head down into the sewers to deal with a couple of Lizzie's traitor crew, who shut down the water pump to disrupt the Hatters, or you can poison Trimble's drink and withhold the antidote until he tells you what you want to know. Either way, Trimble gives you Ashworth's location, as well as the information that Ashworth's smuggling operations were done on behalf of Hiram Burrows himself. She was one of his agents for years, ever since he got her into the Academy. It was something of an open secret in certain circles, but something must have gone wrong because Burrows was the one she was running from.

Armed with the fruits of your investigation and forming a picture you really don't want to see, you finally run Ashworth to ground in an empty flower shop in the heart of the abandoned Mercantile District. Ashworth is afraid of Burrows because she's the only one left who can testify to his crimes: if he was willing to kill the _empress_ to cover them up, she wouldn't even make a bump on the road. The crime he's so desperate to conceal is the introduction of the Rat Plague to Dunwall. Ashworth was the one who imported the rats from Pandyssia, using her horticultural expedition as cover and transporting them back on the _Black Rose_. She released them deep in the Dunwall slums as part of Burrows's scheme to cull the dregs of society, which means that aside from Burrows himself, she might be the one person in this city with more blood on her hands than you. And unlike you, haunted by the death of the empress who died at your hands, the only thing that Ashworth seems to regret is that the plan backfired and now she's reduced to hiding here among the rats and refugees like some common _trash_.

With all of your questions now answered, all that's left is for you to decide Ashworth's fate. You can either kill her outright or knock her out and transport her back with you to the Flooded District, where you release her alone and unarmed inside the quarantine zone, defenseless against the plague she unleashed on the city. Whatever your choice, you return to your base and write up everything you discovered, every interview and every scrap of supporting evidence, and bundle it together in a waterproof package while Billie reports that someone took out the High Overseer. They're saying it was the Masked Felons, just like Abele and Sokolov. Interesting, you say, and ask if there's been any new clients making contact recently. Billie rattles off a couple names, and you hold up a hand to cut her off, tell her to confirm with Pendleton and set up a meet. You'll handle it personally. Oh, and before she goes, make sure to have someone leave this in the Drapers Ward cache. And you hand her the bundle, which has JESSAMINE KALDWIN written in big, bold letters across the front. Billie hesitates just a little too long, then bows over her fist and transverses away. 

You lean back in your chair, put your boots up on the desk, and light a cigarette. Nothing to do now but wait.


	3. THE CONSEQUENCES

The world will react to the choices you make throughout the game in a number of different ways. A large number of deaths, for example, will increase the general level of terror in the city. Likewise frequent alarms or numerous sightings of the infamous Masked Felons will contribute to the rise of public fear, even if your overall death toll remains low. Citizens will be more suspicious and less inclined to offer assistance, and guards will be on higher alert and jumping at shadows. More bodies also means more rats, which contributes to the growth and spread of the Rat Plague. As the Plague spreads more weepers will appear on the streets, and quarantine zones will correspondingly be more heavily patrolled.

Your actions have a more personal impact, as well, which can be seen in the behavior of your friends and allies. In high chaos, your compatriots will grow disillusioned, bitter, and paranoid as the story progresses, focused on their own advancement with little thought to the cost for others. In low chaos, they will be increasingly determined, hopeful, and friendly as the game progresses, focused on the future of the city and how they can work together to save it from the Plague. In addition to the interactions of the conspirators with you and with each other, your overall chaos level will have a significant effect on the outcome of different conflicts throughout the game.

###### 

**CORVO ATTANO**

###### 

As your longtime lover and devoted companion, Corvo is the one most intimately affected by your choices. If you resolve a majority of combat encounters by non-lethal means, Corvo will follow suit, defaulting to stealth and choking out targets during silent takedowns. He will suggest alternate methods of removal for mission-critical targets, and will be reluctant to eliminate them if ordered. When interrogations fail, he will likewise suggest bribery to ensure their cooperation. The Tower staff, initially wary of this silent stranger, will over time grow comfortable with his presence, even going so far as to get his favorite foods or run interference with hated courtiers. Likewise, Corvo will gradually relax his initial mistrust toward the other members of the conspiracy, and as the game wears on you will find friendly letters from them on his desk. When at the Hound Pits he will be found mostly in the company of others, playing Nancy with Samuel or sparring with Havelock.

If, however, your missions begin to rack up a body count, Corvo's behavior will follow a different pattern. He will default to combat rather than stealth, and silent strikes will resolve lethally. He will offer to eliminate mission-critical targets for you, and when interrogations fail he'll suggest torture to force them to talk. The Tower staff will grow increasingly terrified of him, whispering about how he smells of blood and swapping duties to avoid entering his office. Likewise, his initial distrust of the conspirators will deepen into paranoia, and as the game wears on you will find reports on their movements on his desk. While at the Hound Pits he will mostly be found on the roof or in the rafters, tending to his weapons and waiting with silent watchfulness for any sign of betrayal.

###### 

**THE CONSPIRATORS**

###### 

In high chaos, Treavor Pendleton will be proud of his betrayal, gloating over having successfully deceived you: the forgotten Pendleton sibling, the one nobody ever credited, is going to rule. It's really your fault that he was driven to this, you know - if only you'd married him all those years ago, none of you would have been put in this situation. Your daughter would have a real father, he'd have all the power and respect he deserved, and who knows? Maybe if you hadn't run away from court like a whipped dog, your sister might still be alive. In low chaos, however, Treavor will be full of drunken apologies, assuring you that it's not _personal,_ it's just that he _had_ to, you understand, he didn't have any _choice_. The mines have been drying out, they're almost out of money, his family name is all he has _left_. Regardless of chaos level, his end card will be a tombstone in the family plot while his cousin Celia takes over the reins of the dwindling Pendleton fortune.

In high chaos, High Overseer Martin will choose to throw his weight behind Treavor and Waverly's power grab, and in the final mission Overseers with music boxes will be patrolling alongside the guards outside the Parliament building. In low chaos, he will abstain from the coup attempt, and will be delaying the confirmation vote in hopes of your arrival. In his end card, he is either assassinated at the heart of Holger Square like his predecessor, setting off a long and bloody confirmation battle that leaves the Abbey weakened for years to come, or he enjoys a long and fruitful tenure as High Overseer, ushering in an era of moderation and reform.

In high chaos, Havelock will measure his options after your supposed death and choose to throw his lot in with the coup, in exchange for clearing his name and restoring his commission as Admiral. In low chaos, he will decline the offer with some vehemence, refusing to believe that you and Corvo are dead. He will therefore either be at the Parliament building, lending his support to Treavor and Waverly's Regency, or at the Hound Pits, besieged by the City Watch attack. If he's at Parliament he will reveal you as the Masked Felons in an attempt to discredit you before Parliament; if he remains at the Hound Pits, he'll be holed up at the top of the lookout tower, guarding the key to the arc pylon and harrying the Tallboys with his pistol. In his end card, he will either be jailed in Coldridge awaiting execution, restored to his commission and promoted to Fleet Commander, or appointed your Royal Spymaster and tasked with the security of the empire.

In high chaos, Cecelia and Lydia are caught and killed by the City Watch alongside the Piero's patients, but in low chaos they'll evacuate the patients safely into the sewers while Havelock holds off the Watch from the lookout tower. In high chaos, Callista is caught trying to sneak out of the Tower and executed, but in low chaos, she manages to escape and hides in your safe room. If she dies, Curnow will blame you, and he will formally resign from your service before walking away. If she survives, he'll reiterate his friendship, tell you not all of the Guard have forgotten their loyalties, and bow as he opens the doors to the Parliament floor.

###### 

**THE RAT PLAGUE**

###### 

Dunwall's ultimate fate is determined by whether or not Piero and Sokolov find a way to work together to find a cure for the Rat Plague. In low chaos, the number of test failures locked up in the kennels will increase only gradually over the course of the game, while the number of stable infected under Piero's care will rise sharply as he manages to find a way to slow the rate of infection. During the siege Piero and Sokolov will come to a mutual understanding, and their combined research will marry Piero's work in stabilizing the illness with Sokolov's research into the mechanism of infection. Though it takes some months to complete, a successful cure is tested on the streets before the year is out. Freed of the ravages of the Plague, the city will slowly claw its way back from the brink, and your daughter will at last be returned to you on the first ship from Serkonos once the blockade is lifted. The end card will show Emily in Delilah's art studio, under instruction from Sokolov, leaning around the easel to grin at you as she paints.

In high chaos, however, the number of test failures will increase to the point that you have to start killing them or releasing them into the sewers for lack of space, and the number of stable infected will decline as Piero fails to find a way to slow the rate of infection. Any surviving patients will be wiped out by the City Watch during the siege, further setting back Piero's research. Without it Sokolov's work never comes to fruition, and the Plague will spread further into previously safe areas until the whole city is infected. Choked by corpses and overrun by disease, the city will slowly dissolve into chaos and corruption, and your daughter will grow up alone in Serkonos, an ocean away from the City of Rats. The end card will show the Hound Pits waterfront, empty save for a handful of weepers and a swarm of rats boiling up over the stairs and into the street.

###### 

**THE KNIFE OF DUNWALL**

###### 

Daud's fate can play out several different ways. You can kill him in the Flooded District, rejecting his bargain and taking the final vengeance for your sister's death. If you accept his assistance in retaking your throne, once it's done you will again be given the choice to either let him leave as promised, or betray your word and execute him for his crimes. During either fight, on high chaos he will summon assassins to aid him, but on low chaos he will send his Whalers away to safety and fight alone.

If your overall chaos level remains low, a third option will be available: inviting him to remain in service at court as your unofficial spymaster, to atone for his crimes instead of fleeing from them. Alternatively, if your overall chaos is high and you still choose to spare Daud at both opportunities, Corvo will intercede when he turns to leave, and stab him in the back. A threat like that is too dangerous to be left alive, and it's his duty to keep you safe, no matter what the cost.

The office of spymaster can therefore be occupied by Corvo, on high chaos, or Havelock, on low chaos with Daud dead or exiled, or Daud himself. If Corvo is Spymaster, his end card depicts him ruling from the shadows behind the throne, his heart raw and bleeding with the threads of the empire wound around his bloody hands. If Havelock is the Spymaster, his end card shows him burning the midnight oil in Burrows's old office at Kingsparrow, piles of paper stacked up on his desk and the ocean just barely visible in the window behind him. If Daud is the Spymaster, his end card depicts him in an office at the Tower, pacing back and forth and caught mid-gesture while you are seated behind the desk, listening intently, and Corvo watches with a faint smile on his face.

###### 

**DELILAH KALDWIN**

###### 

In the final scene of the game, after you have retaken your throne and chosen your new Spymaster, you will enter Delilah's studio for the first time since her death. You will open the curtains, letting moonlight into the room, and make some half-hearted effort toward tidying up before sitting down on the daybed in the corner, like a puppet with your strings cut. You will stare at the half-finished portrait on the easel, too shadowed yet to make out the face, and then you will slowly drift sideways, curling up on the daybed like you used to when you were little and used to fall asleep watching her paint. The stress and exhaustion and lingering traces of poison will take their toll, and you will slowly drift to sleep and dream of Delilah.

If you finish the game on high chaos, Delilah will be painting in the pavilion where Daud cut her down. She'll be dressed in her court blacks, seeming almost normal from the back until she turns and you can see the corpse-pale wash of her skin, the dull clouded blue of her eyes. Bubbles of blood rise and spill from her lips as she speaks, and the palette in her hand seems to be nothing but reds and blacks. She'll remind you of a story from when you were teenagers, when you took revenge on a girl who whispered about Delilah's illegitimacy, talking about how blood would out, that sort of thing. You paid court to her, spent weeks becoming her dearest friend, and then once you earned her secrets you spread them far and wide, making it impossible for her to hold up her head at court. Her family sent her away to the country, and no one ever said anything about Delilah's common blood again, not in her hearing. Delilah always thought that was the true measure of love: how far one would go to avenge them. If so, Delilah surely must be the most beloved monarch the Isles have ever seen. She puts a hand to your cheek, leaving a sticky-hot smear of blood, and leans down to put her bleeding mouth next to your ear. _Stay strong, dear sister,_ she whispers, and then dissolves into a swirl of blood. When you jerk awake, the smell of blood still thick in your nose, you realize the sun has come up and you can finally see the portrait she was working on before she died. It's you, dressed in full court blacks, sitting on a throne with Corvo a looming shadow behind you, and that's the image that fades into the first title card of the epilogue.

If you finish the game in low chaos, Delilah will be painting in her studio, sun streaming in through the curtains. She'll be dressed in her painting clothes, gauzy and loose with her feet bare on the scuffed wooden floor, her hands nearly as paint-stained as her comfortable old smock and a smear of blue on her cheekbone from a careless swipe of her hand. She'll remind you of a story from when you were children, when you took the blame to get her out of trouble. You were playing together in the halls when an extra enthusiastic spin took out a priceless vase, and your mother, always happy to take out some of her ire on the illegitimate fosterling foisted upon her, was set to blame Delilah for it. But you jumped in and said you were the one who broke it, even though you knew it would make your mother even angrier to see you standing up for her. Delilah always thought that was the true measure of love: how much one is willing to sacrifice. If so, Delilah surely must be the beloved monarch the Isles have ever seen. She puts a hand to your cheek, leaving behind a cool smear of paint, and leans down to put her mouth next to your ear. _Stay kind, darling Jess,_ she whispers, and then dissolves into a swirl of color and light. When you slowly blink awake, the smell of fresh paint still thick in your nose, you realize the sun has come up and you can finally see the portrait she was working on before she died. It's you, dressed in a nightgown with your daughter curled up in your lap, reading her a story while Corvo leans over the back of your chair, and that's the image that fades into the first title card of the epilogue.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [sorrelchestnut](https://sorrelchestnut.tumblr.com/) on tumblr, come say hi!


End file.
